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Sarkozy Shuffles His Cabinet

After Sunday's Regional Election Setback, French President Looks to Heal Rifts

By

David Gauthier-Villars

Updated March 23, 2010 12:01 a.m. ET

PARIS—A day after his conservative party was trounced in regional elections, French President Nicolas Sarkozy made minor changes to his cabinet to try to unite his party and fix France's economic problems.

Mr. Sarkozy appointed a new labor minister to handle a planned overhaul of the debt-laden state-run pension system, a hot issue here that has caused massive protests in the past and where unions energized by Sunday's vote could become more active.